What kind of a response do you get from your adolescent when the topic of their genitals is mentioned?

I understand that they might feel embarrassed, but I don’t understand why many of them find the topic disgusting.

Three Reasons They are Disgusted

One reason I think they respond this way is, sadly, most of what our adolescents learn about their reproductive structures through the internet and not from trusted adults who have a healthy perspective. These kids want answers and the easiest resource for them is the internet, but what a disgusting perspective they are likely to get from their searches.

Another reason they might feel disgust is that they are taught the negatives without the positives. Time and again, I hear about puberty talks for kids that focus on unwanted pregnancy and terrifying genital diseases. These talks are often the first time an adult teaches them anything about their reproductive system and the impression that is left is that the whole thing is bad.

A third reason is that although parents realize how important it is that their kids have knowledge about their body, many are uncomfortable talking to their kids about this topic. I have a lot of compassion for parents. Many of you received little to no explanation about your reproductive parts when you were growing up and naturally you feel like you aren’t equipped to teach your child. I wrote my books so parent would have a resource they could trust to teach their kids about their boy or girl anatomy and not feel like they needed to sort all of that out on their own. What the kids need to hear from you as the parent is equally important. They need to hear a positive, healthy perspective from the most important people in their life.

Let’s Change This!

If we work together, we can educate our kids about their reproductive structures and inspire in them a healthy respect for their importance in their life. These discussions will always be a little embarrassing, but let’s eliminate the disgusted feelings.